\u201cYou can feel that in your gut,\u201d Chow said.<\/p>\n
Yes, you can. I stood to the side and rear of the Rumbler, and the device\u2019s pulsating waves were easily felt from a 10-foot distance.<\/p>\n
That experience eventually led to my reporting earlier this week<\/a> on the reasoning behind the LAPD\u2019s decision to deploy the technology and the co-existing community concerns.<\/p>\n Here are a few excerpts from the full article.<\/p>\n You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n Sign up to start every day with California’s most important stories.<\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n What is the Rumbler?<\/p>\n The Rumbler is a low-frequency siren<\/a>. A standard kit includes two subwoofers, an amplifier and a timing module, with costs ranging from $600 to $1,000 per unit, depending on accessories.<\/p>\n Illinois-based manufacturer Federal Signal<\/a> says the siren is \u201chighly effective in dense urban environments with heavy vehicle traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rumbler interacts with a standard police siren, which generates around 110 to 120 decibels<\/a>, and amplifies that sound through its speakers in eight-second intervals.<\/p>\n Whereas the blare of a regular siren may bounce off vehicles and buildings, the low-frequency tones \u201chave the distinct advantage of penetrating solid materials, allowing vehicle operators and nearby pedestrians to feel the sound waves,\u201d the manufacturer says<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Rumbler then plays a prerecorded message, such as \u201cMove to the right,\u201d in English and Spanish.<\/p>\n The LAPD\u2019s Rumbler deployment comes with a sound- and light-syncing system. That allows several police vehicles to broadcast a synchronized public safety announcement while flashing the same light-signal pattern.<\/p>\n Field noted the sync systems are useful for mass messages, such as at a fire evacuation or an unlawful assembly.<\/p>\n The LAPD says fewer drivers are paying attention<\/p>\n Chow says the new low-frequency siren is the solution to drivers failing to yield to emergency vehicles. It\u2019s a story that he says plays out for officers far too often.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to find a way to get these drivers\u2019 attention,\u201d said Chow, a 36-year veteran and head of the LAPD Support Services Group, which manages core logistical, technical and records infrastructure.<\/p>\n Chow says the Rumbler has been installed on 20 vehicles, with an additional 100 being added to the system soon.<\/p>\n He hopes that around 2,000 of the department\u2019s 5,000 vehicles will be deployed with the Rumbler within the next couple of years.<\/p>\n The Rumbler hits from all angles<\/p>\n For Richard Tur, the founder of NoiseOff<\/a>, an organization that tracks and offers noise pollution solutions, it doesn\u2019t seem necessary for bystanders to feel a siren \u201cpounding through your body.\u201d<\/p>\n Tur said that even though the speakers are front-facing, the siren blast is omnidirectional, meaning those moving in the opposite direction can feel the Rumbler.<\/p>\n Tur credits the 360-degree blast to its original inspiration. The Rumbler is the dream child of a Florida Highway Patrol officer inspired by the \u201cbass-thumping audio\u201d from local cars, according to a report from Cabinet magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hamid Khan, an organizer with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a community group that campaigns against over-policing, said local neighborhoods were being forgotten.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re missing the point,\u201d Khan said. \u201cWhat is the impact of this thing on us, the people who live in these communities where the Rumbler will be used?\u201d<\/p>\n Khan is worried the siren will be abused in poorer neighborhoods.<\/p>\n He said such additional noise \u201cultimately affects sleep cycles, hearing and inflicts trauma\u201d upon locals.<\/p>\n You can check out the full article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The week\u2019s biggest stories (Aurore Marechal \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s D23 conventionEnvironmental and health concernsRidesharing and hybrid vehiclesMore newsEditor\u2019s picksMore picksThings to do (Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Kevin Winter \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Recipe (Carlos Chavez \/ Los Angeles Time)<\/p>\n Former Times Food Editor Amy Scattergood said this amazing taco is \u201cso tasty that it might just replace carne asada in your dreams.\u201d Here\u2019s the recipe for dandelion green and Christmas lima bean tacos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photo of the day Yves Felker and his son Adam Felker, 2, of Los Angeles, join crowds attending the grand reopening of Rick Caruso\u2019s Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades on Saturday.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Games Here\u2019s today\u2019s mini crossword<\/a>, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jack Dolan, investigative reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, the L.A. Police Department\u2019s Motor Transport Division hosted a demonstration of the Rumbler low-frequency alert system.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1004664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,11791,7823,4140,4238,11789,99,6276,2961,224,2444,5337,11395,7825,5996,11792,11790,3549,290,6620,7827],"class_list":["post-1004663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786894401_676_.jpeg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786894404_558_.png\")
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<\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Shi Bradley, audience intern<\/p>\n